Airplane hijackings were not uncommon in 1994, but usually such extreme actions were undertaken by fringe terrorist groups with a political statement to make, and who usually used a large passenger jet to make said statement. It’s no wonder, then, that the Memphis Tower requested clarification more than once as to what airline was declaring an emergency due to an attempted takeover on April 7. Federal Express? A cargo plane? It was strange, but true.
The Perpetrator
Auburn Calloway worked as a pilot for FedEx, but he had fudged his resume a bit and had greatly embellished his flying experience while serving in the U.S. Navy. When he was scheduled for a disciplinary hearing he panicked, assuming that he’d be fired. He launched a pre-emptive strike at the company that he thought was unfairly singling him out and decided to, in one fell swoop, both provide for his family and punish FedEx. His plan was to hijack a FedEx flight by attacking the crew with a hammer, then take control of the plane and crash into the Memphis headquarters of the company. By using a hammer as a weapon, autopsies on the remains would only show blunt-force trauma, which would be typical in an airplane collision. Thus, no suspicion would fall back on Calloway and his beneficiaries would receive the full amount of the many hundreds of thousands of dollars of life insurance he’d recently purchased.
The Crime
Calloway boarded FedEx flight 705 as a “jump seat” passenger — a perk allowed to FedEx employees when there was ample space. The only baggage he’d brought aboard was a guitar case. When the flight crew boarded, they were surprised to see Calloway already on board and initiating pre-flight procedures. They said nothing, however, and he relinquished the engineer’s chair and settled in the jump seat.
Less than 30 minutes into the flight, Calloway opened his guitar case and produced a claw hammer, which he used to rain blows on the heads of Captain David Sanders, First Officer Jim Tucker and Flight Engineer Andy Peterson. What Calloway hadn’t counted on was the tenacity of that flight crew; despite gaping head wounds that penetrated their skulls and caused partial paralysis, the three men fought back. Two of them physically wrestled the hammer from Calloway, who retreated temporarily and then returned with a spear gun. Tucker, his right side completely paralyzed, managed to pull the control yoke to his chest with his left hand, causing the jet to go into a barrel roll (at 400 miles per hour!). That maneuver threw Calloway off-balance and allowed Sanders and Peterson to tackle him and hold him down. The DC-10 went into a dive at over 500 mph, something the craft was not designed to do, but somehow Tucker, with only one working hand, managed to pull out of the dive and radio the tower with an emergency call. The tower thought it had misunderstood; “say again?” it radioed the pilot, not understanding how a cargo plane could be undergoing an attempted takeover.
The Aftermath
FedEx 705 was ultimately cleared for landing on any runway it could manage. Thanks to the heroic efforts of the flight crew, not only did the plane land safely, they also managed to keep Auburn Calloway subdued until authorities boarded the craft in Memphis and arrested him. Due to the severity of their head injuries, David Sanders, Jim Tucker and Andy Peterson were permanently grounded and never flew again. Auburn Calloway was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He is currently serving his time in a California prison and protests his conviction via his website. [Note: Page no longer available.]
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Comments (53)
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Great piece!!! Keep up the true crime stories. I really enjoy them!
posted by Betty Boop on 7-24-2008 at 10:12 am
Love true crime-type stories. The weirder the better…
posted by Fran on 7-24-2008 at 10:14 am
I am interested in this column! Keep it up!
posted by Julie on 7-24-2008 at 10:15 am
I suspect if we could poll Auburn’s fellow state guests they would all be as innocent and mistreated as this chap.
posted by Jim on 7-24-2008 at 10:19 am
Neat story! More, more, more!
posted by natlynn on 7-24-2008 at 10:23 am
I’d like to know why he opened the game with a claw hammer when he obviously had a for-God’s-sake spear gun stowed on board.
posted by Kim on 7-24-2008 at 10:33 am
Great story. Amazing crew!
Keep up the good work!
posted by beth on 7-24-2008 at 10:35 am
This column is fascinating. Love it, keep posting them!
posted by adrienne on 7-24-2008 at 10:44 am
I for one loved it.
posted by Witty Nickname on 7-24-2008 at 10:46 am
yes! keep up the true crime.
great article!
thanks, Kara!!!
posted by renis on 7-24-2008 at 10:54 am
Keep em coming, I love it!
posted by august on 7-24-2008 at 11:01 am
Loved it. Keep the true crime stories coming!
posted by Garen on 7-24-2008 at 11:01 am
Great piece! Keep ‘em coming!
posted by Cavutto on 7-24-2008 at 11:04 am
I like it!
posted by Brian on 7-24-2008 at 11:07 am
@Kim – Kara wrote “By using a hammer as a weapon, autopsies on the remains would only show blunt-force trauma, which would be typical in an airplane collision. Thus, no suspicion would fall back on Calloway and his beneficiaries would receive the full amount of the many hundreds of thousands of dollars of life insurance he’d recently purchased.”
I’m assuming that the spear gun was brought along just in case the lovely claw hammer wasn’t enough. Apparently though, neither were enough and this guy got his just desserts anyway. :)
I vote YES to more true crime stories!
posted by cb on 7-24-2008 at 11:12 am
yes, i would like to see more “true crime” stories.
posted by Bob on 7-24-2008 at 11:15 am
cb – Yes, he brought the spear gun as a back-up weapon. Apparently he thought the resulting deep puncture wounds would also be in line with injuries suffered in a crash.
posted by Kara on 7-24-2008 at 11:22 am
Keep it!
posted by Erin on 7-24-2008 at 11:29 am
I concur with the general consensus! More!!
posted by Orange on 7-24-2008 at 12:22 pm
True crime is awesome. Rock on
posted by Gilbert on 7-24-2008 at 12:31 pm
Please keep doing true crime!!!
posted by MOnika on 7-24-2008 at 12:32 pm
Man, what is it with people fighting back on airplanes?
Loved the column!
posted by Joanna on 7-24-2008 at 12:38 pm
I love the article!
Keep ‘em coming!
posted by Nick on 7-24-2008 at 12:50 pm
YES! I love things like this! keep ‘em coming!
posted by Jill B on 7-24-2008 at 12:55 pm
Great piece! Would LOVE to see more
posted by Dayna on 7-24-2008 at 1:15 pm
I concurr with everyone else! more! More! MORE!
posted by Kate on 7-24-2008 at 2:13 pm
This was great, continue by all means :D
posted by Josiah on 7-24-2008 at 2:23 pm
Ahahaa! That’s what I get for skimming!
My Captcha is bayonet mount. Ow.
posted by Kim on 7-24-2008 at 2:28 pm
More true crime! more true crime! There is a great true crime serial at the WashingtonPost.com involving the famous Chandra Levy case for those interested. You will spend hours engrossed in this!
posted by Chris on 7-24-2008 at 2:30 pm
I LOVE true crime! This is a definite keeper!
posted by Amy on 7-24-2008 at 2:57 pm
I love these kind of stories. Keep em coming.
posted by B on 7-24-2008 at 3:38 pm
Keep the true crime stories coming! GREAT JOB!
posted by R6C on 7-24-2008 at 3:51 pm
Awesome article! More, please.
recaptcha: study Bulgaria
posted by Miss Priss on 7-24-2008 at 4:41 pm
Love true crime stories! Keep em up!
Recaptcha: Melvin looks
posted by redbeki on 7-24-2008 at 4:51 pm
Gosh…the enthusiasm for the true-crime stories here is scary.
No wonder Law and Order is on 24/7.
posted by septer on 7-24-2008 at 5:14 pm
Decent story. I’m jealous, I wish I could be the one penning this column. I’m a true crime junkie.
posted by Cassie on 7-24-2008 at 7:58 pm
Keep the true crime stories coming. Keep them coming a plenty.
posted by Jeff on 7-24-2008 at 8:27 pm
Please sir, I want some more.
posted by Sue on 7-24-2008 at 8:59 pm
Loved the article! Want more!
posted by kani on 7-24-2008 at 10:28 pm
Totally feeds my crime story jones. Keep it coming!
posted by Joanne on 7-24-2008 at 10:31 pm
I think True Crimes is a great column and I would love to see more.
posted by Bethany on 7-25-2008 at 11:46 am
There Greeeaaaattttt
posted by Philip on 10-28-2008 at 12:10 pm
Good story. It was a different kind of heroism, but reminded me of the Gimli Glider event.
posted by Dennis M on 5-23-2011 at 6:07 am
I <3 true crime, more please!!
posted by Stef on 5-23-2011 at 6:35 am
Yes! More stories like this!
posted by mommaelk on 5-23-2011 at 7:10 am
Very interesting. Those men were heroes! I would love to see more pieces like this.
posted by Jonathan on 5-23-2011 at 11:36 am
Awesome article Kara!
I think there is a mistake though. “His plane was to hijack a FedEx flight by attacking the crew with a hammer and then take control of the plane and crash into the Memphis headquarters of the company.” Do you mean “His plan”?
posted by Junell on 5-23-2011 at 1:33 pm
Love this article. I think it’s a nice addition to mental_floss
posted by Ian on 5-23-2011 at 2:10 pm
Would love to hear more True Crime stories!
posted by Jamie on 5-23-2011 at 7:04 pm
Yes, more please.
posted by xanderjones on 5-24-2011 at 6:21 pm
“I’d like to know why he opened the game with a claw hammer when he obviously had a for-God’s-sake spear gun stowed on board.
posted by Kim”
Kim, if he used the hammer and won, there would be no evidence that he killed the pilots. He had the speargun as backup, in case the hammer failed.
posted by Kanta Kamijyo on 6-16-2011 at 4:34 pm
Why dont you ask Auburn he is doing time in prison and is not hard to find. But what you are leaving out is one of the guys he was flying with that day was in the Navy with him and they he was undermining Auburn success at the company. Auburn graduated from Standford University among his many other accomplishments. Auburn was one of a very few black pilots at the company your leaving that out too. Those of use who know him see it as another black lynching. But when slaves revolted in the time of slavery the slave masters saw them as wrong for that so I don”t expect you to see it any differently. Look deeper ….
posted by Auburn Calloway on 9-28-2011 at 5:18 pm
As I said there is a part missing in that one of the pilots actually was in the military with Auburn and they had confrontations in the past which spilled over to his job at Fedex. I am not defending Auburn because I think it was foolish for him to approach his troubles with violence but there is a sub plot that you are missing. Sadly I believe he actions were seen by others who used it to attack our country. Auburn is my cousin….
posted by Auburn Calloway on 9-28-2011 at 5:31 pm